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Help W/priceline Hotels Vancouver

Lizzybell

By Lizzybell,
in Princess Cruises

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Lizzybell

Lizzybell

Posted
Posted

Hello-I have tried to bid on 4* hotel thru Priceline in Downtown Vancouver for 9/24/05-my bid of $65.00 was rejected. I have searched threads and found posts from last yr(nothing current) that there are no 4* hotels in Langley or Delta, so you are safe choosing either one for a 2nd. bid option-knowing you will get downtown(we want the Hyatt Regency). Does anyone know if this is still so-not sure how to research this. I am new to this & not 100% sure of what I am doing. I am also looking for 1 way airfare from LAX to Vancouver-the airfare is alot higher that I expected & have been told to wait, that it will come down 60 days before.

I would prefer to book everything now. Thanks for your help. CC is the best:)

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DCT61

DCT61

Posted
Posted
http://www.biddingfortravel.com shows three areas for free rebids... those are: SURREY, DELTA and LANGLY (none of these areas have a 4-star property). It might be a little too early for hotels to release Priceline rooms for the month of September, but keep trying. You might check out the above mentioned website along with: http://www.biddingfun.com and http://www.betterbidding.com for assistance. We got the HYATT thru Priceline for a June cruise last year and really enjoyed it. Very friendly and helpful staff and the hotel was a short walk to CANADA PLACE to watch the ships arrive in the (early!) morning.
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captainron

captainron

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Hi Folks,

Regarding hotels, you want to be in the heart of d'twn Vancouver if you're cruising from either of the 2 cruise terminals. All your good reataurants are in the West end and a 5min taxi ride from the hotels.

 

Surrey (depending where you are in Surrey) is approx 45 min drive from Canada Place and Ballantyne Pier.

Delta (depending where you are) is about a 30 - 40 minute drive.

Langley via Hwy 1 is about an hour from the pier.

AND THESE TIMES ARE ON THE WEEKEND!!! IF YOUR CRUISE LEAVES ON A WEEKDAY GIVE YOURSELF EXTRA TIME

 

Recommend a hotel in d'twn area. Pan Pacific, Hotel Vancouver, Bayshore Inn, Fairmont Waterfront are all within a 5 min taxi ride. Pan Pacific hotel...you just walk downstairs to Canada Place cruise terminal.

 

Hope this helps you choose a good location to stay, so...

 

Ciao for now!!!

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Globaliser

Globaliser

Posted
Posted
I have searched threads and found posts from last yr(nothing current) that there are no 4* hotels in Langley or Delta, so you are safe choosing either one for a 2nd. bid option-knowing you will get downtown(we want the Hyatt Regency). Does anyone know if this is still so-not sure how to research this.
Whatever you do, please don't rely on past information posted on biddingfortravel or elsewhere about zones which are safe for free rebids, because Priceline can change the star levels available in individual zones at very short notice. biddingfortravel itself says to check for yourself every time.

 

The only safe way of checking is to do it immediately before you bid (or, if you've had to serve a 72-hour timeout, immediately before you restart). This is what I do:-

  • When you get to the page with the different zones on, choose only the first zone in the list.
  • Go to the next page and see what star levels are available.
  • Write them down (or print that page).
  • Go back to the previous page.
  • Uncheck the box for that first zone, and check only the box for the next zone.
  • Go to the next page and see what star levels are available in that zone, then write them down on your list.
  • Repeat until you have looked individually at all the zones for that city.

This is the only safe way of knowing which zones you can add as free rebid zones for the bidding that you are about to do.

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VibeGuy

VibeGuy

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Posted

Remember that the exchange rate affects PL bidding, as you're bidding in US and paying in CDN. With the decline of USD against CDN, last year's prices are wishful thinking to some extent.

 

That said, it's probably too early for much PL bidding. Book a cancellable backup reservation, and start bidding four weeks out.

 

Eric

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kruisey

kruisey

Posted
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WOW...thats a great suggestion! Using that method, the hotels in SURREY, DELTA and LANGLY appear to be safe for a 4 star free rebid

 

Why do you wont to be miles out of the city ?.As another poster mentioned Delta,Langly,Surrey could really hamper your enjoyment with the travel into the city. :eek:

The Sheraton Wall Center is a 4 to 5 star hotel and to get it for $80 is great value.

We have many conventions in the city and the hotels at certain times of the year are all booked up by them years in advance....this could be why you are having trouble.

Vancouver is in the process of building a huge new convention center plus additional hotels...which should ease the problem.

Trip Advisor gives you detailed advise about the different hotels in a city...Maybe you could go there and then back to your price bidding on other sites. :) ...Kruisey....I live in Vancouver.

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Globaliser

Globaliser

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Why do you wont to be miles out of the city ?.As another poster mentioned Delta,Langly,Surrey could really hamper your enjoyment with the travel into the city. :eek:
No, the point is that there are no 4* hotels in those areas that Priceline deals with. So you use these zones if you want a 4* hotel in the city centre.

 

Normally, if you bid on a 4* hotel in a place and your bid is not accepted, you have to wait 72 hours before you can bid again.

 

However, you're allowed to rebid immediately if you change some of the criteria for your bid, other than price. One of them is to add a zone. So if you add a zone with no 4* hotels to the zone that you want to be in (eg the city centre), then you can bid again straight away, increasing your offer to see whether that will be acceptable. This is a "free rebid" - and you know that if your bid is accepted, it will be in the zone that you originally wanted because that's the only selected zone in which there are any 4* hotels.

 

In Vancouver, the three zones mentioned mean that you can make 4 sequential bids immediately for a 4* hotel in the city centre before you have to serve a 72 hour timeout.

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joanne1

joanne1

Posted
Posted

Kruisey - we have used Priceline many times. When you are registering and for the credit card address you type all of your address on the address line - city, province, country, postal code. Then for the state put in CA for California but it will also stand for Canada and 99999 for the zip code. I have heard that others have used an American Express but I have only found that it works with a Mastercard. Have never had a problem with billing or a booking . . . advise from others on this board that has worked for us for 3 years now.

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kruisey

kruisey

Posted
Posted
Kruisey - we have used Priceline many times. When you are registering and for the credit card address you type all of your address on the address line - city, province, country, postal code. Then for the state put in CA for California but it will also stand for Canada and 99999 for the zip code. I have heard that others have used an American Express but I have only found that it works with a Mastercard. Have never had a problem with billing or a booking . . . advise from others on this board that has worked for us for 3 years now.

:eek: Mine is a Visa !!!!!!!!!!!!!

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berylmorris

berylmorris

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We have booked Priceline from Australia. We use WA for the State because we are from Western Australia and just use 99999 for the zip because we have only 4 digit zips. Just make sure you get your whole address to appear incl. your country. You do need an acceptable format telephone number; we use the number of a friend in New York State.

 

Priceline will only ever contact you by email so it does not matter. Funnily enough our Citibank visa card was not accepted but another local Australian bank's Visa was accepted just fine.

 

We have booked the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco for September 2005 for $80 prior to our Dawn Princess cruise to Mexico. We booked in February. I suppose you would get better rates closer to the time but we just wanted to do it!

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  • 1 month later...
Lizzybell

Lizzybell

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Hi-after months of bidding(and learning) on Priceline for Vancouver 4*(09/05) using the the 4 different areas(as so well described above :) ) my bid got accepted today for $76 Sheraton Wall. It looks lovely, was hoping for something closer to Canada Place, but very pleased overall. Thank you all for the learning lesson on how Priceline works, I feel much more comfortable booking now. But, as stated, knowledge is the key, must know the areas that have no 4 star hotels so you can safely bid on 4 areas knowing you will only get Vancouver etc(&that could change w/future development of the outerlying areas) Liz PS any feedback on the Vancouver Sheraton Wall is appreciated

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